Return-liquor system for dyeing and bleaching machines.



No. 856,922. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

R. P. SMITH & G. B. DRUM.

RETURN LIQUOR SYSTEM FOR DYBIN G AND BLEAGHING MACHINES.

APELIOATION FILED APB. 11.1806. 7

2 SHEBTS-SHEET 1 @wuewt w q vi bm-eooco y k p( %%w %mw 'No. 856.922. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907. R. P. SMITH & G. 'E. DRUM.

RETURN LIQUOR SYSTEM FOR DYEING AND 'BLEAGHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION TILED APB.11.1906.

ESHBETB-BHEET 2 I ROBERT P. SMITH AND GEORGE E. DRUM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RETURN-LIQUOR SYSTEM FOR DYEING AND BLEACHING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed April 11,1906. Serial No. 311,036.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known' that we, ROBERT P. SMITH and GEORGE E. DRUM, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Return-Liquor Systems for Dyeing and Bleaching Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in dyeing and bleaching machines and it particularly pertains to return liquor systems to be employed in connection therewith.

In the arts as heretofore practiced, it has sometimes been the custom to allow the liquid used in bleaching and dyeing processes to run to waste. This 'mode of procedure has proven too costly to be practiced and various attempts have been made to eliminate this objection. Centrifugal pumps have been tried for the purpose of forcing the liquid, after it has been once used, into a suitable tank where it can be stored for future use, but this method has been abandoned as unsatisfactory, owing to the corrosive action of the various chemicals upon the rotating parts of the pump, which makes them too costly of maintenance in a working condition.

At the present time, it is sometimes the practice to allow the liquid to run by gravity into a suitable reservoir in the floor of the dye house in proximity to a dyeing machine or extractor and when it is desired to use the liquor again it is necessary to dip it from the reservoir with buckets, but this is a slow and tedious method and one which causes much work.

It is a desideratum of the present invention to eliminate the above objections and to this end the apparatus comprises a storage reservoir having inlet and outlet passages for the liquor and means for ejecting liquid un der pressure from the reservoir.

The entire structure is simply and cheaply assembled and involves no element that can be effected by the various chemicals e1nployed in the art.

The detail construction will appear in the course of the following description, in which reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, like numerals designating like parts throughout the several views, wherein:

Figure 1, is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement and relation of the storage tank to the various apparatus of the plant. Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional view showing the storage reservoir for the liquids after they have been once used, Fig. 3, is a transverse sectional view on the line a e of Fig. 2, and F 4, is a detail side elevation of the valve operating mechanism for the storage tank. Fi 5, is a vertical sectional view of the hand va ve 24, and, Fig. 6, is a vertical transverse sectional view thereof.

I11 the practical embodiment of our invention, we employ a tank 1, open at its top and divided by a central transverse partition 2 into upper and lower compartments 3 and at. The partition 2 is provided with a valve opening 5 which is surrounded by a metallic plate 6 that serves as a seat for the valve 7 and is secured to the partition in any desirable manner as by bolts 8. The valve 7, is constituted with a vertical shaft 9 extending above the top of the tank 1 and being held between spaced guide brackets 10 carried upon the apex of a frame 11 of inverted V- shape, which braces the structure and serves as a support for the valve operating means. The frame 11, is formed at the termination of its legs with flanges 12, which grip the innor circumference of the tank, and adjacent to said flanges, the frame 11 is formed with a pair of oppositely arranged apertured cars 13, disposed in vertical alinement with apertured brackets 14 secured to the base 1.5 of the tank.

The structure is braced longitudinally by stay bolts 16 arranged exteriorly of the tank and extending through the ears 13- and brackets 14 and being firmly held in position by nuts 17.

A hand wheel 18 is j ournaled in the brackets 10 and carries on its shank, disposed between said brackets, a worm 19, which constitutes a mechanism for raising and lowering the valve 7, and in this function meshes with a worm rack 20, provided upon the upper end of the shank 9 of the valve 7.

The plate (3 and partition 2 are formed with registering openings for the reception of an air blast pipe 21 and a liquor pipe 22, the latter extending into the compartment l to a point adjacent to the floor thereof. The air pipe 21 has connection with a conductor pipe 23 from a suitable source of air supply and at the junction of the pipes 21- and 23, a three-way hand valve 24 is provided by which, with the proper manipulation, the air may be directed into the compartment 4 through the pipe'2l, or exhausted from said compartment or the pipe 23, a safety valve 25 being provided for releasing any excess pressure from the compartment 4 or tank 1 under ordinary circumstances or in case the valve 24 should become out of order.

In the art as practiced, it may be desired to transfer the. liquor from one. apparatus to another in order that goods may be treated with otherliquids in the same machine, orit may be desired simply to store the: liquor for further use. .It will be seen how this desideratum is attained by reference to Fig" 1, wherein the extractors 26 are disclosedas: in communication with the'tank 1 by valve controlled pipes 27, through which the liquor extracted from the textiles, or after other use, gravitated into compartment 3, from whence it is transferred to the compartment 4, in a manner'to be described, and from said compartment under pressure through the ejection pipe 22 to a main 28, provided with valves-28 for independently opening communication with the other machines to be supplied with the liquid, such as the tomtom tank, the liquoring machine, or thevarione other apparatus known to the art and which last named apparatus are generally designated by the numeral: 29.

In operation, it is assumed that the valve 7 is closed. Liquor from the desired machine is admitted into the compartment 3. The valve 7 is then opened, being'raised' by turning the hand wheel 18 in the proper direction and through the worm 19 and rack 20 raising the shank 9 and valve 7, at which time, the liquor in the compartment 3, will gravitate through the opening 5 into'the compartment 4. The valve 7 is. then closed in a similar manner, but by rotating the hand wheel 18 in the reverse direction, and while the liquor is being forced from the compartment 4, an entirely different liquid from another tank, may, in order to save time, be admitted into the compartment 3 and discharged into the compartment 4 when the first supply in said compartment shall have been ejected.

WVhen the liquor originally admitted into the compartment 3 has been transferred to the compartment 4 in the manner described and the valve 7 has been closed, the valve-24 in the air pipe 22 is opened soas to direct a continuous blast of air into the compartment 3, which with the requisite pressure, forces the liquid from the compartment 3' through the ejection pipe 23 and from thence through main 28 to the machine where it is next desired to be used.

I The air in compartment 4, after the discharge of the liquor therefrom, is exhausted by turning the valve 24 so that its opening 24 will move out of register with inlet port 24 and into register with exhaust port 24,-.to out off the supply and allow the air to escape from pipe 21 to the atmosphere.

The air pressure required to effect a discharge of the liquor is comparatively small,

approximately ten pounds to the square inch, and a fan blower may be effectually 1 employed. Where a compressor is used, the

pressure of the air supply can be regulated by a reducing valve.

Having fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful'is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a reservoir, a central partition therein separating the same into upper and lower compartments, a manually operated valve 1n said partitionfor' controlling the communication between said compartments, liquid induction pipes from extraneous sources of supply leading into the upper compartment, a liquid eduction pipe leading from the lower compartment and extending from a point near the floor thereof vertically through both compartments, an air pressure supply leading into said lowercompartment, and means arranged in said air pressure supply pipe for controlling the supply and exhaust of air pressure in said lower compartment.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, areservoir, a central partition separating the same into upper and lower compartments, a manually operated valve in said: partition for controlling communication between said compartments, liquid induction pipes from extraneous sources'of supply leading. into the upper compartment, a iquid eduction pipe leading. from the lower compartment and extending from a point near the floor thereof vertically through both compartments, an air pressure pipe from a source of air supply, leading. into said lower compartment, a valve in said. air pressure pipe controlling said air pressure supply and for exhausting. the air from the lower compartment after the eduction of liquid therefrom.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a tank, a central horizontal partition therein separating. the tankinto upper and lower compartments; an opening in said partition 7 providing communication between the compartments, a valve seat arranged in said opening, a valve cooperating with said'seat, an operating rack stem therefor extending above the topof the tank, a spider for supportingand guiding. the upper end of the stem, an operating. gear on said spider and engaging said rack stem, an air pressure pipe from a source of supply leading into'thelower compartment through the partition, and a fluid eduction pipe extending. through the partition and having its lower end in close proximity and spaced from the tank bottom.

4. In an apparatus of the class described,

a tank, a central partition therein separating the same into an open upper compartment and a closed lower compartment, a manually operated valve in the partition, an air pressure supply to the lower compartment and a fluid eduetion pipe for the lower compartment.

In testimony whereof We afiix our signatures in presence 01'' two witnesses.

ROBERT P. SMITH. 4 GEORGE E. DRUM.

l/Vi tnesses:

GEO. E. Po'r'rs, MARGARET CRAIG. 

